Missed chances. Cars they should of made.

[RedSparrow]

Triumph Bullet, Broadside and Lynx.

All TR7 based, all look fantastic.

http://austin-rover.co.uk/sportstriumphf.htm

 

 

 

 

They were about to start building this when they had to close Speke2:

[GJR 11L]

 

 

 

I can't do photoshop, but if someone could imagineer a Renault 12 2-door convertible, that would be gr999.

 

 

YES!

[Polystratus]

Mk1 Fiesta Estate .... Pretty sure i have seen a picture of one, but for the life of me cannot find it.

Not exactly an estate, a pickup version with a cover:

 

[Negative Creep]

Alfa 155 estate

 

 

 

[Tayne]

.

[barrett]

NOM NOM NOM!

[garethj]

Volkswagen EA266 from 1969

 

About the size of a Golf but with the engine laid on its side just ahead of the rear axle.

 

A bit noisy for rear seat passengers, but I bet it would have been a hoot to drive with all the weight low down and plenty of traction at both ends.

[Rod/b]

Rover 75 coupe. They commissioned one coachbuilt prototype but it never came to anything. But a simply beautiful motor car.

 

[VWPowered]

shame, nice rover like that could of possibly sved the company... oh maybe not

[gtd2000]

Just think if they could have stuck with Honda engines - they would be very appealing cars indeed!

[chaseracer]

Rover 75 coupe. They commissioned one coachbuilt prototype but it never came to anything. But a simply beautiful motor car.

 

Please tell me that this thing of beauty has survived and was not one of the prototypes recently destroyed at Longbridge...

[Pillock]

So somebody at Rover filed that paperwork into "No", yet ticked the box on the Streetwise and had it put into production.

 

And yet they wonder why they went bust.

[vicsmith]

The Chrysler 180 Coupe would have been nice:

 

 

Apparently someone actually saw this parked up somewhere and sketched it, if that`s the case then the prototype must have been crushed pretty quickly, this is the only thing about it on the whole internet.

[ashmicro]

Just think if they could have stuck with Honda engines - they would be very appealing cars indeed!

BURN THE HERETIC!

[barrett]

That two door 180 thing is weird, isn't it? I remember reading about that and freaking out a little because there was a fairly mainstream car out there that i'd not heard of, and would never get the chance to see (autism?). I reckon what really happened was he was drunk and saw a two door avenger with the late style chrysler rear end on. If I keep telling myself that, it makes it seem better.

[gtd2000]

Just think if they could have stuck with Honda engines - they would be very appealing cars indeed!

BURN THE HERETIC!

LOL - the truth is out there

 

Of course, the K-series engines were a master stroke, Heretics aside

[HillmanImp]

I found this and I think it should win the compo:

 

 

Its a photoshop, but I really like this. Not as much as that Porsche Shooting Brake though.

 

I vaguely remember seeing the prototype drawings for the Imp replacement which was deisgned in the early 70's but never went into production. IIRC it was very similar to a Fiat 126 in design.

[Pete-M]

Just think if they could have stuck with Honda engines - they would be very appealing cars indeed!

BURN THE HERETIC!

LOL - the truth is out there

 

Of course, the K-series engines were a master stroke, Heretics aside

Truth is quite obviously that the should have stopped making anything that wasn't fitted with a V8, because non-V8 Rovers just aren't right.

 

Sad really, the Rover 75 is a nice thing - until you drive the ZT260. Then the 75 feels a bit lacklustre.

 

Sheesh. Honda was the end of Rover for me.

[gtd2000]

I'm too much of a Jap fan to be negative about the Honda/Rover days.

 

I did like the look of the Rovers in the 60' and early 70's but didn't find anything inspiring about them from that point onwards other than as rebadged Hondas from a known quality and reliability point of view.

 

I've driven way too many British vehicles, particulary Land Rovers in my Army days to have any feeling of nostalgia and as for the V8 engines they were simply gutless underpowered efforts in my experience...

 

I actually remember being more impressed by both a Suzuki Vitara and one of those little Suzuki Rhinos for offroad capabilities in standard form

[Albert Ross]

Dunno if they ever thought about it, but wouldn't a Triumph Acclaim Estate have been a good wee car?

[warren t claim]

I think Jaguar shouldn't of binned the Daimler 2.5 and 4.5 V8 engines. A V8 powered XJ6 (well it would of been XJ8) could of been a great car.

[GJR 11L]

Dunno if they ever thought about it, but wouldn't a Triumph Acclaim Estate have been a good wee car?

Yes, and it might have looked a lot like this: